Tirunelveli city is well-connected by roads. It is located on NH7, 150 km to the south of Madurai and 80 km to the north of Kanyakumari. NH7A, an extension of NH7, connects Tirunelveli with Tuticorin City. The road infrastructure is being expanded with an extensive 4 carriageway expansion and the NH7A stretch is almost in its final stage. Tirunelveli is accessible by road from Madurai (3 hours) or Nagercoil (1.5 hours). Tirunelveli is also connected by major highways to Kollam, Tiruchendur, Rajapalayam, Srivilliputtur,kadayanallur Sankarankovil, Ambasamudram and Nazareth.

The main bus terminus was relocated from Palayamkottai to Veinthankulam at the outskirts of the city in 2003. A large network of interstate and intrastate buses ply to various destinations. There is a good co-existence of both private and public transport networks in the city round the clock. The Tirunelveli Head-division of the TNSTC (Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation), Tirunelveli Division services the district's road transport needs with a string of local and mofussil (out-of-town) services. The State Express Bus Corporation (SETC) operates express services to Chennai,[1] Bangalore, Salem, Coimbatore, Tirupur, Nagapattinam, Erode, Villupuram, and Tirupati. There are Many famous Omni Bus services running to Bangalore, Coimbatore and Chennai.

The city is beautified by a majestic looking structure with a high elevated façade,[2] is one of the busiest and most important stations in Tamil Nadu[3]. It is connected to major cities in all four directions, Madurai/Sankarankovil to the North, Nagercoil to the South, Tenkasi/Kerala (Kollam) to the West and Tiruchendur to the East.

Tirunelveli-Tiruchendur route is a broad-gauge network. A large engine maintenance and service station is under construction. At present, all engines and coaches with problems are being sent to Nagercoil for maintenance. This station is facilitated with computerized ticket booking and touchscreens to know the train schedule and status. A computerized ticket booking center at Palayamkottai is operational. There are three express trains starting from Tirunelveli - Nellai Express, Hapa Express, Bilaspur Express and Jammu Link Express.

The Tirunelveli railway station produces a substantial profit for the Madurai Railway division[4]. The Nellai Express, — a super-fast train connecting Tirunelveli and Chennai-Egmore runs fully packed almost throughout the year[5]. The station has six platforms . Tirunelveli Junction is coded as TEN. Any train passing through the station halts in Tirunelveli Junction station. It is one of the oldest[6] and most popular stations in Indian Railway[7].

Road-users who were facing a tough time after the Kulavanigarpuram manned level crossing was abruptly closed for construction of a rail over bridge, without a service road being provided, has been opened again, thanks to the swift action taken by Mayor Vijila Sathyananth.

Even before the construction materials arrived and ground breaking work for the pillars of the proposed rail over bridge commenced, the manned level crossing on the Tirunelveli – Nagercoil National Highways was closed and no step was taken to provide a service road to ensure the free flow of traffic – a procedure normally done whenever a busy thoroughfare is closed for maintenance or for carrying out new construction activities.

When complaints started pouring in from road users, Ms. Vijila inspected the battered alternative roads through which the vehicular traffic had been diverted following the closure of the rail level crossing at Kulavanigarpuram.

Witnessing the problems being faced by the road-users , Ms. Vijila immediately contacted the officials concerned, including Collector R. Selvaraj and made arrangements for re-opening the closed level crossing.

“Though this is only a makeshift arrangement, vehicular traffic via Kulavanigarpuram level crossing will be allowed until a service road is provided for vehicular traffic,” the Mayor said.